AES E-Library

AES E-Library

Dynamic Damping of Stylus Compliance/Tone-Arm Resonance

Assuming that every audiophile has had some inclination at one time to understand the mechanics of tone-arm resonances, this note is so oriented to discuss one such type. Perhaps the most frequently discussed tone-arm resonance occurs in the 0-20-Hz region [1]-[5]. The particular fundamental frequency within this range is determined by the compliance of the cartridge and the effective mass of the tone arm referenced to the stylus. It will be shown where this resonant frequency should be designed to occur to minimize the possibility of tone-arm resonance caused by external vibration sources. In addition, a tone-arm damper of the untuned viscous type is used to lower the effective mass of a proposed tone-arm design, going on the assumption (and hope) that future cartridges will have mechanical stylus parameters approaching those given in [5]. Present damping methods and their inherent inadequacies in controlling stylus compliance/tone-arm resonance will be discussed.